Born of Fire and Ice
by missmoney101
Summary: When asked, they would say it started in the Games. Because when there is a mutual desperation for survival, anything can happen. And that 'anything', just so happens to be a child. Gradual Catoniss. Rated T for drunk Haymitch


Born of Fire and Ice

**A.N. Hi everyone! I thought that I'll try my hand at writing a Catoniss fanfic (while it may not seem it at first, I intend to develop the relationship in further chapters) so here it is. Changes to canon: the 74****th**** Hunger Games ended with Katniss, Peeta and Cato as victors, due to the dog mutts suddenly becoming uncontrollable and beginning to destroy the arena so the Gamemakers were forced to pull the remaining three survivors out of the arena so they could terminate the mutts without the risk of killing the tributes and ending up without a victor in the process. For the 75****th**** Hunger Games, '**_**as a reminder that the districts' rebellion tore families apart, the tributes reaped will be siblings**_**' which ended in District 7 winning. The rebellion hasn't happened yet so this story sort of takes place during the first half of the second book only ten years later. I don't actually know how long people would spend in the mines but I tried to come up with a time that the Capitol was likely to set. Please read and review but no flames because they burn away Haymitch's alcohol. And Haymitch without his alcohol…well, I refer you to Catching Fire when Katniss explains what happened when Haymitch ran out of alcohol: '**_**…he had a withdrawal, shaking and screaming at terrifying things only he could see. He scared Prim to death and, frankly, it wasn't much fun…**_**'**

* * *

When asked, Katniss would say that it started in the Games.

He had always been somewhat of a mystery, ever since she had caught him staring at her and Peeta when they made their fiery entrance at the tribute parade. The mystery had increased when she saw him hacking dummies to pieces in the training centre, leaving her wondering what the boy who lay under the cold, ruthless exterior was really like. She wasn't surprised that he got a training score of 10; hell, he was a Career and they always got the top scores. Well, not _the _top score this time, she thought as she watched her 11 shining on the screen. The actual Games were where it all kicked off. She was encamped in a cave near the lake, still mourning the loss of Rue, when all of a sudden _he _entered, obviously not expecting anyone else to be there because for a while, they just stood and looked at each other, his hand on his sword hilt, hers on her bow. Slowly, they both took a step forwards and then their lips were on each others', moving together in a mixture of lust, savageness, loneliness and a desperate need for survival. She wound her arms around his neck as he moved his hands down to her hips and then gently lowered her onto the cave floor. When she awoke, she found him gone, her clothes in a messy pile next to her and a parachute from Haymitch. Hurriedly, she dressed, tied her hair back in its usual braid and went outside to refill her water bottle. She thought that what had happened in the Games would stay in the Games.

She was wrong.

* * *

When asked, Cato would say that it started in the Games.

She had always enticed him, ever since she and Lover Boy made their fiery entrance at the tribute parade. The strange attraction had increased when he saw her working in the training centre, tying knots and doing edible plants test, seemingly menial tasks yet somehow, he had the inkling that she was saving her skills. This theory was proved when the training scores were revealed. He still couldn't believe that someone from _District 12 _of all places had managed to best his (still impressive) score of 10. Him! A Career! The ones who always got the top scores! Well, not _the _top score this time, he thought as he watched her 11 shining on the screen. The actual Games were where it all kicked off. He was collecting water from the lake for himself and Clove (due to _someone_ blowing up all their supplies) when darkness suddenly spread across the sky. Looking around, he spotted a cave where he could shelter for the night. He was not expecting anyone else to be there but, sure enough, when he entered, _she _was there. For a while, they just stood and looked at each other, her hand on her bow, his on his sword hilt. Slowly, they both took a step forwards and then their lips were on each others', moving together in a mixture of lust, savageness, loneliness and a desperate need for survival. She wound her arms around his neck as he moved his hands down to her hips and then gently lowered her onto the cave floor. When he awoke, he found her next to him, still sleeping, their clothes in a messy pile next to them and a parachute from her mentor. Quickly and silently, he dressed, looked one last time at her and slipped out the cave. He thought that what had happened in the Games would stay in the Games.

He was wrong.

* * *

Ember Everdeen had the typical Seam look; dark brown, almost black hair, small build and olive skin. The only exception was her eyes, a piercing icy blue. She lived in District 12, in the street known as Victors' Village, with Mother, Peeta, Grandmother and Aunt Prim, two doors down from Uncle Haymitch and every Sunday, Uncle Gale would come and visit after he and Mother had gone hunting. Everyone who saw her said she was her mother's daughter, which was understandable, given that they had never seen her with her father. Hell, _she _had never met her father. All Mother, Grandmother, Aunt Prim, Uncle Gale, Uncle Haymitch, Uncle Cinna (when he sometimes visited from the Capitol) or Peeta would tell her was that he had ice blue eyes like her and that he lived in another district.

"Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies," Uncle Haymitch had grumbled when she had pestered him for almost an hour before allowing a rare smile to come to his lips when she began pestering him to read her a story. Ember loved her whole family except for one; Peeta Mellark. They had never gotten on due to, she suspected, her father. Ember had known for a long time that Peeta wasn't her father and while she was able to think of Katniss Everdeen as 'mother', she had never been able to think of Peeta as 'father' or even 'stepfather'. So she called him 'Peeta' like everyone else, much to the amusement of her Uncle Haymitch. Ember loved all of her uncles but secretly, Uncle Haymitch was her favourite. He was usually drunk, always funny and often took her side in arguments. Like Mother and Peeta, Uncle Haymitch was a Victor from the dreaded Hunger Games, organised by the brutal Capitol. Ember hated the two but she kept her thoughts to herself, especially at school where all the students were kept under the watchful eyes of the teachers. But apart from that, school was a relatively fun aspect of her life. She was one of the most popular girls in her year group, she was athletic, everyone claimed she had inherited her mother's beautiful singing voice (which Mother had inherited from Grandfather) and she was academic. The only subject she couldn't stand was maths. It was hard, boring and of little interest to her. Uncle Haymitch agreed lustily with her on this, calling maths a 'waste of bleeding time', leading to Mother reprimanding him for using dirty language and Uncle Haymitch secretly teaching Ember every profanity he knew.

* * *

"Mother, I'm home!" Ember called, pushing the front door open and shrugging off her heavy coat and school bag. "Mother?" Once she had hung her coat on the coat peg and stowed her bag underneath the hat stand, she walked down the hallway and opened the door to the kitchen. Standing by the sink was Aunt Prim, peeling potatoes and humming to herself, while a stew bubbled on the stove next to her.

"Aunt Prim?" Ember asked tentatively, walking up to her. Prim jumped slightly and whirled around, a smile breaking across her face when she saw her ten-year old niece.

"Ember! Hello sweetie," she put down her potato peeler and enveloped Ember in a hug. "How was school today?"

"It was fine," Ember replied. "We had sport today which was fun and Mr Cox showed us this cool science experiment with coal. Where's Mother?" Prim smiled again and knelt down in front of her.

"She's upstairs with Uncle Haymitch, Uncle Gale and Peeta," she responded. "She's just got off the phone with Effie Trinket so I think they're all discussing it."

"Ok," Ember nodded. "I'm gonna go to her." She turned and walked back to the kitchen door.

"Don't forget to do your homework afterwards," Prim called after her, returning to peeling her potatoes. Ember took the stairs two at a time before ending up in the landing. Her room was in between her mother's and Aunt Prim's and their rooms were opposite the study, Grandmother's room and Peeta's room. Peeta and her mother had been part of the famous 'Star-Crossed Lovers' back during the Hunger Games that they won together. Ember had always been told by her mother that it was an act so that they could both survive, but the Capitol had lapped it up like cats do cream and the two 'lovers' had eventually been forced to marry. However, her mother still kept her maiden name (in honour of her dead father, Ember's grandfather) and slept separately from Peeta because she preferred her privacy. Ember was more than fine with this arrangement. She walked up to the door to her mother's bedroom and slowly pushed it open. Katniss Everdeen was sitting upright on her bed with Uncle Haymitch and Uncle Gale sitting on either side of her and Peeta leaning on the wall next to the bed. They were all watching a program on Katniss' television. When she stepped closer, Ember could see that it was the flamboyant host Caesar Flickerman (with his hair dyed a bright magenta this year) presenting a show on the upcoming 85th Hunger Games.

"Mother?" she called softly, causing four heads to swivel towards her. Smiles broke across three faces while a look of polite indifference settled on the fourth.

"Hello darling," Katniss held her arms out and Ember dove into them.

"Hi Mother," she chirped happily once she had emerged from the hug. "Hi Uncle Gale. Hi Uncle Haymitch. Hello Peeta," she added as an afterthought.

"Hello Ember," he replied coolly. "Did you a ha-"

"So Ember," Haymitch interrupted. "Got a new word for me today?" To keep her mind active, as he put it, Haymitch had devised a challenge for her. Every week, she had to find a new word and its meaning without the use of a dictionary. If she managed to find 52 in a row, then she would get a special prize. Ember hoped that it would be a badge like Katniss' famous Mockingjay one.

"Uh huh!" she nodded enthusiastically, bringing out the folded piece of paper with her word written on it. "Venerate."

"Which means..." Haymitch prompted.

"To honour a person or thing."

"Fantastic darling," Katniss smiled at her daughter proudly Ember beamed.

"How was your day Uncle Gale?" she turned to the third man in the room. He gave a wry smile.

"Pretty uneventful Ember," he replied. "Just mining for 10 hours."

"Ok," she nodded before turning back to Katniss. "Mother, Aunt Prim said you were on the phone to Effie Trinket. What was it about?" At this, Katniss bit her lip and looked at the others.

"Ember, sweetheart," she began. "You know Caesar Flickerman was talking about the upcoming Hunger Games?"

"Uh huh," Ember nodded, her dark hair swaying a little.

"Well, ever since you were born, everyone has been dying to meet you," Katniss continued. "I've always put it off, saying you were too young. But the reason Effie called was that President Snow has decided you're old enough."

"Mother?" Ember looked at her, her blue eyes wide. "What are you saying?" Katniss gave a sigh.

"Ember...this year I'm taking you to the Capitol for the 85th Annual Hunger Games."


End file.
